{"id":25037,"date":"2022-06-09T14:39:51","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T18:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=25037"},"modified":"2022-06-15T10:10:22","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T14:10:22","slug":"indian-country-legislation-hijacked-by-republicans-on-capitol-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/06\/09\/indian-country-legislation-hijacked-by-republicans-on-capitol-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Country legislation ‘hijacked’ by Republicans on Capitol Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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House Committee on Natural Resources: Full Committee Markup – June 8, 2022<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Indian Country legislation ‘hijacked’ by Republicans on Capitol Hill<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, June 9, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats are vowing to return to work better prepared after they said Republicans “hijacked” a slew of Indian Country bills during a markup<\/a> in the nation’s capital.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe House Committee on Natural Resources<\/a> was set to advance no less than seven pro-tribal bills at the session on Wednesday morning. But Rep. Ra\u00fal Grijalva<\/a> (D-Arizona), the chair of the legislative panel with jurisdiction over Indian Country issues, adjourned the markup after the Republican minority dominated discussion with issues that were largely unrelated to the agenda.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“I thought that the agenda we had today, that had been discussed with the minority [was] not trivial, that each [bill] had substance and each one represented a constituency of a given member,” Grijalva said at the end of the meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes<\/a> without any of the items being advanced.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“But, you know, crisis acting is dominating the day today, and strategic messaging is dominating the day,” Grijalva said of the Republicans who came to the meeting with a list of criticisms against the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \"Ra\u00fal<\/a>

Rep. Ra\u00fal Grijalva (D-Arizona) serves as chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources in the 117th Congress. Photo courtesy House Committee on Natural Resources, Democrats<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nRep. Betty McCollum<\/a> (D-Minnesota), a longtime leader of the Congressional Native American Caucus, was more pointed with her assessment of the political drama. She blamed Republicans for derailing progress on an otherwise bipartisan bill to start addressing the genocidal legacy of Indian boarding schools that were funded, operated and supported by the United States.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“One of the most important is establishing a Truth and Healing Commission for the way Native American children in their families were attacked by the federal government in the past, causing death, causing intergenerational trauma,” said McCollum. She described H.R.5444<\/a>, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, as a “way for us to move forward with healing.”\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBut it isn’t just the boarding school bill that was derailed. The agenda for the markup included three other pieces of legislation that have already passed the U.S. Senate<\/a>, including one led by a Republican.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“We carry these bills on behalf of these tribal nations and they have been listening to this debate being hijacked,” McCollum continued, “hijacked now to the point where it is the Republican campaign committee for the next election.”\r\n

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